Here’s a question for you: do you wear makeup every day?

Most days? Some days? Never?

For a long time, I’ve worn some makeup pretty much every day – usually under-eye concealer, a light BB cream, cream blush, a little bit of setting powder, and a tiny bit of eyeliner on the lower outer corners of my eyes. Sometimes mascara.

It’s not really a “fun” thing for me (it’s also not not-fun – just neutral!), but I do like how I look when I wear it. It’s hardly noticeable, but with makeup, my complexion is just a little more even and my eyes are a little more prominent.

The second day we were in Maine this year, though, I put on my usual sunscreen and then… walked out the door. Why? A few reasons, I think:

1) In this particular community, it’s an established norm. Most Islanders subscribe to the classic New England throw-on-a-hat-and-call-it-a-day look. Many people wear tees, shorts, and sandals every day; I’m in good company with a no-makeup look.
2) I’ve known these people my whole life, and they’ve known me – I’m known and loved. I feel like one of the reasons I wear makeup in my “normal life” is to try to manage the first impressions of others, and that’s not necessary here.
3) It’s an active place. We’re in the water, in the sun, on the boat, walking, swimming, playing tennis. There’s little point in spending too much time applying product just to have it wash off a few hours later.
4) I rarely look in the mirror there. At home or at work, I pass mirrors several times a day and give myself a once-over each time. I spend a LOT more time outside in Maine, and it seems to be out of sight, out of mind with me – I just think about what I look like a lot less.
5) When I’m in a beautiful place, I find I care less about my own beauty. I’m just grateful to be there, and I already feel like my best self living my best life :)

In my continual quest to live my best Maine life at home, I’ve been forgoing makeup more often since our return. These days, I’d say I’m wearing it about 4/7 days a week. I generally don’t wear it on days we’re planning to ride our bikes, or days I’m working from home and won’t be “on camera.” I’d love to get to the point where a CC cream or concealer doesn’t make any difference, and my hope is that by wearing makeup less often and letting my skin breathe, I’ll get there faster! :)

This is a topic that could go much broader and deeper, but we’ll leave it there for today. I welcome your thoughts on any of this, but mostly I’m curious: do you wear makeup every day?

Photos from Maine, sans makeup. Affiliate links are used in this post!

One of the activities at our book swap party was a simple jar where gals could drop in their favorite books of all time – the ones they think everyone should read! I was SO intrigued to read the picks, and I thought you might be, too…

All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak*
The Bright Hour by Nina Riggs
The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt*
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Defending Jacob by William Landay
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Educated by Tara Westover*
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine*
Field Notes on Love by Jennifer Smith
A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter
I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon
Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Limelight by Amy Poeppel
The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah*
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett*
The Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Riley
Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner
The Stand by Stephen King
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
When I Pray For You by Matthew Paul Turner
Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker

…and Pressley suggested we all just follow Annie B. Jones for the best book recommendations!

I’ve cosigned with an * the ones I’ve read above, but consider this your end-of-summer reading list from a whole gaggle of smart, fun, well-read friends! :)

What would you add? Which books on this list can you cosign to?

Affiliate links are used in this post!

I’ve shared before some of my Dad’s parenting one-liner gems. His oft-repeated phrases formed the background of my character development, and I am so grateful for that! Paul David Tripp writes that “parenting is about the willingness to live a life of long-term, intentional repetition,” and my Dad was more than willing.

As I became a parent, I fully expected to pick up the mantel of his favorite phrases and impart his wisdom to a new generation – and I have. What I didn’t expect was that these phrases would still be growing and changing me, years and years after I first heard them, years after you’d expect I might have wrung every drop of goodness from them.

One in particular I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. My Dad would often admonish us, “if you’re going to give, give graciously.” In childhood, this meant that it wasn’t enough to simply shove a coloring book across the table at my sister if I begrudgingly agreed to relinquish it; no, I was supposed to politely (graciously) place it in her hands, ideally with a smile. Our parents were not often satisfied with the bare minimum, and they definitely weren’t satisfied until our hearts were in the right place.

These days, I am the parent, and as the parent, many requests are made of me by a certain little girl. Another pancake? One more book? Can we go outside to draw with chalk? Can we go upstairs? Can you play with me? Can you draw with me? Can you carry me??? Sometimes there’s a clear yes or no to these kinds of requests, and that’s that.

But often, it’s up to me. A year or so ago, I found myself often frustrated, saying yes but only begrudgingly. Feeling over a barrel, I’d huff out an acquiescence before tossing the pancake onto the plate or the chalk into her hand with a harrumph. June usually seemed indifferent to my attitude, but I immediately felt the sting of it. Not only did I feel like my child was getting something over on me (never a pleasant feeling), but I realized I was robbing myself of one of the best parts of parenthood: delighting my child by giving her good gifts. And for what? Usually, the no was simply reflexive and not rooted in any particular reasoning beyond my own agenda.

Thinking back to my Dad’s phrase, I retrained myself to pause for a beat when faced with a request. Was there a real reason to say no? I’d say a gentle but firm no and stick to it. No good reason to say no? I’d say a wholehearted yes, and fully enjoy the glee that followed. I let my yes be yes and my no be no.

And now I get the gift of saying with a smile, yes, let’s have another pancake.

Thanks, Dad. Happy Father’s Day to you and to all the wonderful dads out there. xoxo

I recently listened to a Coffee & Crumbs episode all about media, and between that and our lively discussion about Where the Crawdads Sing and Educated on my last post (and the planning underway for my book swap!!), I thought it might be fun to keep rolling on the reading train. So today, all about my life as a reader… and I want to hear about yours!

What do I read?

Right now I’m averaging about 20-40 books in a year, or 2-3 per month. About half are non-fiction, and half are novels. I love…

…(good) parenting books
…pop psychology and behavioral economics books
…personal finance books
…books that give me practical ways to live out my faith
…books that deal with the intersection of technology and family
…novels with exquisite writing.

And of course I read the Bible! Usually this version.

How do I read?

I exclusively read physical books, for a few reasons.

I prefer the experience of real books – seeing the typography on the page, feeling the heft of the book shift from right to left as I page my way through.

I am a visual learner, so I tend to retain more from a paper page – even if I haven’t marked it, I can often recall where a certain quote I paused over was (top left corner, bottom right) many days later.

I want to live in a home with books because I think they’re beautiful and because I want where I live to be filled with things I treasure. Environment is a strong way of imparting our values to our kiddos, and there is almost nothing I more want to give them than a love of reading.

On that note, I read physical books because I want my kids to see my reading. I want that to be one of the most common sights of their childhood, me curled up with a book, to learn from my example that reading is a delicious past-time, one of the most delightful and worthy ways to spend an hour. I could be doing anything with my phone in my hand, but when I’m holding a book, my priority is clear.

When do I read?

At this stage in my life, most of my reading is done right before bed. This is both good and bad. If I’m reading a book that’s sucked me in, I’ll eagerly head to bed early to squeeze in a few more chapters. However, if I’m reading a book that’s sucked me in, I’ll often stay up too late to squeeze in a few more chapters :) Some nights I read for 15 minutes, some for an hour.

I’m also diligent about leaving a book in my car or packing one in my bag if I’m heading to an appointment so I can read on the go instead of scrolling on my phone. I imagine this will become even more helpful when our kiddos are in activities that require my chauffeur services!

Where do I find books to read?

Fiction I almost exclusively borrow from the library – I tend to only read it once, so to me it doesn’t make quite as much sense to buy! Nonfiction I prefer to buy (on Amazon or Thrift Books), because I’ll often read favorites multiple times. I also like to underline quotes or ideas that hooked me (often for use in EFM posts later!) and am an eager lender of my favorites to friends and family members. (Stephanie has my copy of The Coddling of the American Mind right now and when I get it back I’m sending it to Kim!)

It also helps that one of my benefits at work is a book library, which is $15 a month to spend on the “personal growth” book of my choice! As an Enneagram 5, lifelong learner, and avid reader, this is heaven :)

I keep an iPhone note on my phone for “Books to Be Read” as well as a list of the books I read each year (they are some of my most-referred to notes!). I add great suggestions to it from my Articles Club ladies, from my siblings, friends-in-real-life and on Instagram, from EFM readers in the comments, and from a few favorite blogs (Cup of Jo and Everyday Reading especially!).

More posts about reading:
My thoughts on reading in 2014 (a few things have changed!)
25 favorite picture books
25 favorite chapter books
My favorite parenting books

I think my next reading post will be about the books I recommend most often – though of course, if you’re an avid reader of this blog, I’ve probably already recommended them to you :)

In the meantime, I’d love to hear: what are your favorite types of books to read? And when do you read?

Affiliate links are used in this post!